Newcastle United ace reveals desire to leave St James’ Park after scoring first goal of the season

Ryan Fraser has set his sights on staying at Southampton past the conclusion of his loan move from Newcastle United. After being frozen out of first-team matters by Eddie Howe at Newcastle, Fraser moved to St Mary’s in the summer transfer window on loan until the end of the season.

The 29-year-old made just eight appearances for the Magpies last term and moved to the south coast in search of regular first-team football. Although not a regular starter under Russell Martin, Fraser has featured in every game for the Saints since his move and has revealed his desire to stay at the club.

Speaking after their win over Hull City, Fraser said: “I love it here. I love coming in every day, loving football again is nice. I try to gain as much each time I come in and I try and wear the badge with as much pride as I can.

“I try to give as much as I can every day and not waste a second while I come in. At the end of the season, hopefully, I can stay.

"That’s my main goal, to stay at the club, but there are little goals to try to get there. First and foremost my aim is to help the club get promoted, and it would be nice (to stay).”

As mentioned, Fraser hasn’t featured for Newcastle since a cameo appearance against Everton over a year ago and was instructed to train away from the first-team at the back end of last season by Howe. When asked if Fraser had a future at the club, Howe said: “I think that’s a difficult one for me to answer, because I’d never put a firm decision on that, because life and football can change quickly, but, I’d say at the moment, no he doesn’t.”

Fraser’s lack of game time for the Magpies also meant he lost his place in the Scotland squad, one he will hope to regain before next summer’s European Championships. Hitting form for the Saints will be key in helping him reach that goal but for now, Fraser is concentrating on being a big influence behind the scenes in his new surroundings.

“I’ve said it before, if I don’t play - I don’t play.” Fraser told the Daily Echo. “I’m not going to complain about it, I’m just going to be trying to help the lads as much as possible.

“If that’s shouting on from the sideline, giving them encouragement or celebrating when they score - that’s the kind of player I want to be. Obviously, I want to play and start every game, but that’s really hard to do in the Championship and at a big club like Southampton. 

"I'm going to help the club as much as I can. Whether that's goals and assists or things off the pitch like passing on advice to the young lads. Whatever is needed, I'm going to be there."

Three wins in their last four games mean Southampton currently sit inside the Championship play-off places but trail the automatic promotion spots by eight points.